When the angel must leave
by Monkeymad1
Summary: I'm going to try something a little bit different. This is a companion piece to Shooting Stars; the very last bit is the same but adapted slightly. Also, the bits in italics are Sam's thoughts and memories as the story progresses. Please enjoy and read and review! Xx


**A/N I'm going to try something a little bit different. This is a companion piece to Shooting Stars; the very last bit is the same but adapted slightly. Also, the bits in **_**italics**_** are Sam's thoughts and memories as the story progresses. Please enjoy and read and review! Xx **

6 months ago…

"Rachel? Rachel, come here sweetie, come and see Mummy" Sam called to her 18 month old daughter, wishing she had the strength to physically go over to her daughter and pick her up like any other mother could.

"Mummy!" the toddler smiled, clambering up onto her mother's lap and playing with her long hair, twisting it between her tiny fingers "Daddy! Mummy sick"

Tom came running upstairs and into the bedroom and sure enough, he saw his girlfriend was retching and coughing. He grabbed the bowl and held it under her chin while she was sick, then helped her to lie back on the bed, tucking the covers around her and Rachel "Alright?" he asked her gently. Sam simply nodded, she hated Tom and their daughter seeing her like she was, but she couldn't bear to be away from them either.

_What I am supposed to say to him? Of course I'm not alright, but if I said that, he'd only worry more._

4 months ago…

Spring had finally arrived after the long harsh winter. Sat with her daughter on her lap, Sam stared out of the window and out onto the garden with the dense woods right down at the bottom of it. She remembered a time, not so long ago and at the very beginning of her illness, when she had been playing hide and seek with Tom and Rachel in those very woods.

"_Rachel? Where are you hiding?" Sam called out, laughing as she spotted her young daughter hiding behind a tall tree "Tom, have you seen Rachel? I can't see her…"_

"_No, I can't see her" Tom joined in, which was shortly followed by Rachel's outburst of delighted laughter and shrieks of "Here, Mummy! Here, Daddy!"_

"_Oh there you are!" Sam laughed, hugging her daughter tightly to her._

Sam smiled at the happy memory then sighed. _How many more times am I going to get to share with her and Tom? I'm not getting any better; I know it's only a matter of months before they say there is nothing more they can do for me. _

2 months ago...

Tom didn't know what to do. They had just been to the doctor; he had told them there was nothing more he could do for Sam, they just had to let nature run it's course.

It was virtually silent in the house; even Rachel was quiet and Sam hadn't spoken since they left the doctors.

He went upstairs and into their bedroom where he saw his fiancé sat up in the double bed, Rachel next to her, writing.

"What you writing?" he queried, smiling softly at her.

"List"

"Of?"

"A list of things I want to do before I die" she said bluntly, handing him the piece of paper. It read:

Play hide and seek in the woods again

Watch the sunset

See a shooting star

Tom smiled; all of the things on her list were just simple, day to day things that most people would simply take for granted, but they both knew her time was running out.

_So its getting nearer. The doctor told me this morning that there was nothing more that they could do for me. What will Tom do when that day finally comes? How will he tell Rachel? How can he explain to her that her mother is dead and that she won't ever see her again?_

Sam felt tears running down her cheeks, and then Tom putting his arm around her and Rachel come to join in the hug. She smiled; knowing crying wasn't going to do anything, no matter how scared she was, or how unfair it was.

The last day…

That afternoon, well, nearly evening when Sam woke up she was coughing uncontrollably, coughing up mucus mixed with blood. He went over to her, sitting her up as gently as he could and rubbing her back until she was done coughing, then just held her in his arms, stroking her hair.

"T-Tom?" she croaked suddenly, making him jump slightly "Where's Rachel?"

"She's in her room. Want me to go get her?"

Sam nodded, and he went to get the young girl. Rachel was Sam and Tom's 2 year old daughter and they both loved her more than anything else in the world. "Rachel?" he whispered "Rachel, come on honey, Mummy wants to see you"

"Mummy!" she exclaimed happily, clambering up onto the bed to be with her mother.

"Hey" Sam smiled, slowly wrapping her arms around her daughter as she snuggled up against her, leaning on her chest.

_I love you, Rachel, and your dad. More than either of you will ever know. I'm going to miss you so much! Please don't forget me; I know that I will never forget you, not ever; I'll always be watching over you. You're growing up so quickly, I just wish that I would still be around to see you grow up, see what kind of person you grow up to be._

A few hours passed before Tom came in again, taking Sam's hand in his "Sam. What was the last thing on that list of yours? The last thing you wanted to see?"

"A sh-shooting s-star"

"Come on then" he smiled, helping her into the wheelchair and tucking the blanket around her. Rachel reached her arms out to her mother and Tom picked her up and put her on Sam's knee.

"Tom, what?"

"You'll see. Come on, lets go!"

They went outside onto the patio; it was pitch black apart from the twinkling stars in the night sky. Every 20 seconds or so, a shooting star would soar past, making Sam gasp in awe at the sheer beauty of it.

"Thanks, Tom. It's beautiful" she whispered, tears coming to her eyes.

"You're welcome, babe. Anything for you!"

"It's perfect. The perfect…e-end"

"What do you mean? What are you talking about, Sam? It's not the end…"

_Please, Tom. Its time. You have to let me go, I can't stay with you much longer. Please let me go, but know that I love you both more than anything else. Don't ever forget that._

"It is. I know it is, I-I can feel it. I love you, both of you. Don't ever forget…" her voice tailed off as her breathing became harder and harder, until finally it stopped.

"Sam? Its okay, you're okay now…I love you too. I'll look after Rachel, I promise. She'll always know who her Mummy is, and how amazing she is…"

Rachel cried silently, nestling her head further into her mother's chest, not wanting to let go. Tom didn't force her, he knew this would be the last time she ever sat on her mother's lap, or cuddled her, or even saw her. He had to give her the chance to say goodbye.

"M-Mummy!" Rachel wailed, looking at her father "Mummy!"

"It's alright, baby, Mummy's better now. She's not in pain anymore, she's gone to Heaven"

"Heaven?" the toddler repeated, confused.

"Its where the angels live, Rachel" he told her, wiping away the tears that streamed down his face, knowing that he had just lost his own angel and he wouldn't get her back. Until the next time he saw a shooting star, he knew he would see her then.


End file.
